Page 25

TWENTY-FOUR

ANDRE

Spending Sunday morning, the final day of the festival, at Red’s was a nice extension to the night I’d spent with Ethan.

After his repeated dunkings and a pleasant evening of theater, we’d gone back to his place.

It was my third night in a row being there, and talking and making out late into the night was my new favorite thing.

We’d come into town because he didn’t have any food in the house other than a couple slices from the maple pie I’d brought over and three-day-old pizza.

“I promise to go to the grocery store tomorrow.” Ethan offered an apologetic smile as we sat in a booth across from the counter. “There needs to be more than beer, tea, and water at home.”

My heart fluttered at his casual use of home . Even if he didn’t mean it as our home , it still triggered an emotional response. “The company matters more than what’s in the fridge.”

“Still.” He reached across the table to squeeze my hand. “I should at least have coffee for the mornings.”

“You say that like I mind coming here.” I gestured around us at the energetic diner. “What’s not to love?”

Ingrid arrived with our breakfast. I got a veggie omelet, and Ethan got eggs, turkey bacon, and an English muffin. She’d barely set down the plates before my phone buzzed with another parade update.

Ethan buttered his toast. “I appreciate you’re trying to ignore your phone during breakfast, but it’s parade day and people have stuff to tell you. It’s okay.”

I sighed and picked up my phone. “You’re annoyingly reasonable sometimes, you know that?”

“Only when it’s necessary.” He winked, and I looked away before his adorableness distracted me.

The message confirmed the sidewalk barriers along the parade route were in place. I responded, then put the phone back on the table face down. “Everything’s good. I’m all yours until I have to head to the parade for last checks.”

Ethan swallowed a sip of coffee. “I’m going to stop by the rink, check in on the morning session.”

“Just don’t let them rope you into an impromptu practice session. Liam can be persuasive.”

“Says the man who got talked into reading three extra stories yesterday.” His eyes sparkled with amusement as he remembered my recap of the story time we had at the picnic.

“That was different. Clara needed to get food, and I can’t resist sharing books with kids.”

“I know.” His voice softened. “It’s one of the things I love about you.”

My heart did that fluttering thing again, and I busied myself with my coffee to hide how much his casual mention of love meant. After how close we’d become, which had included sexy times in the shower this morning, I struggled not to blurt out how I felt about him.

And in the past few minutes, we’d each said the word love in different contexts.

But it was too soon for those three big words to be said directly to him, wasn’t it?

My phone buzzed, saving me from my thoughts, and I stole a quick glance. Wade’s message confirmed the live streaming setup was ready.

I drifted back to the memory of how Ethan had held me this morning. We’d woken early, tangled in his sheets, and shared slow, sleepy kisses before I accepted his invite to the shower. The memory of water cascading over us, of Ethan’s gentle hands and softer words, made me flush.

“You okay there?” Ethan’s voice brought me back to the present.

“Just thinking.” I took another sip of coffee to hide my smile. “About this morning.”

His eyes widened slightly. “Oh?”

I leaned forward, lowering my voice. “Specifically about how good you looked with water running down your chest—and other bits.”

A light blush crept up his neck. “Andre…”

“What? I’m not allowed to appreciate the view?”

“You’re allowed.” He lowered his voice even more. “But I don’t think we want that detail in Maplewood Matters .”

I laughed softly, enjoying how easy it was to make him blush. The tough hockey player had such an adorably bashful side. I wanted to discover every facet of his personality. Maybe once I knew all of that, it’d be time for the three words.

“Hey, guys, sorry to interrupt.” Alex, Maplewood’s photographer and social media coordinator, appeared at our table.

“Morning, Alex,” I said.

“Hey, thanks for all those great shots of the game yesterday,” Ethan said. “They were stunning. We’d love to get copies of some for the camp website and the players are all interested in copies.”

“Of course. Just let me know what you need. I’ve got more too. I shot a lot.” He pulled his phone out and swiped. “Let me send you the link where you can see them. You can share that with anyone that wants to download anything. If they use them, it’d be great if they could credit me.”

In a moment, Ethan’s phone buzzed and he flipped it over to look at the screen. “Cool. Thanks. I’ll pass that along.”

Turning to me, Alex said, “Since I caught you, I wanted to ask. Do you think we can D&D the second week of July?”

Checking my calendar quickly, I nodded. “Any evening that week looks good.”

“Great. Three down, two to go. I’ll confirm with you as soon as it’s locked in. I’ll let you get back to your breakfast. Happy Pride!” Alex claimed a seat at the counter.

Ethan looked at me quizzically. “D&D? As in Dungeons and Dragons?”

“Yeah. A bunch of us have played together for more than a year now. We try to get together at least once a month.”

He washed down a bit of his English muffin. “I would’ve never guessed you as a gamer.”

“I got into it when I was working in Austin. There was a group who played at the library, and the storytelling aspect sucked me in.” I pulled up the photos on my phone and found the illustration Olivia had made of my character looking resplendent in deep purple robes with golden runes glowing across the front and his spell book floating open in front of him.

“Meet Baldwin Scriptoris. His friends call him Script. He’s a badass Tiefling Wizard. ”

Ethan looked like I’d spoken a foreign language as he looked between the picture and me.

“You’re purple. And have horns. And a tail.”

“Like I said, I’m a Tiefling. Horns and tails are common.”

“And yet this looks just like you in the face, with that thoughtful look as you read the book.” He continued to study Olivia’s drawing.

“You can come watch us play.”

“People do that?”

“Sometimes, yeah.”

“I would love to see this side of you in action.”

I hadn’t expected that to excite me, but it did. D&D wasn’t for everyone, especially to watch, so that he wanted to check it out was meaningful.

My phone buzzed in Ethan’s hand, but he didn’t give it to me when I reached out.

“Okay, even though it’s parade day, you’re going to take a brief break.”

He swiped on the phone’s screen.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

He smirked as he talked into the phone. “Hi, awesome parade volunteers. This is Ethan. Andre’s going to take a quick break from responding so he can finish his breakfast before it gets totally cold.

I promise he’ll be back in a few minutes.

” He tapped once more before setting the phone next to him and covering it with his hand.

I shook my head, running my hand over it at the same time. “I can’t believe you did that. But thank you.”

“Sometimes you have to save someone from themselves.” He continued eating, keeping his left hand firmly on my phone as it vibrated.

We ate, trading occasional smiles. Only after I’d finished the last bite did he release the phone. When he handed it back, I placed it face down.

“My therapist is going to love what happened here.”

“I can do that anytime you need me to.” Ethan checked his watch. “I suppose we should go, though. We’ve both got things to do before eleven.”

At the register, I took care of the bill. We’d fallen into a good routine of trading off who paid without discussion.

“Thanks for a brilliant morning,” I said as we stopped at the intersection where we’d part ways.

“I hope we have many more.” He pulled me into a quick hug. “See you at ten forty-five. Try not to stress too much before then?”

I laughed against his shoulder. “No promises.”

The walk to the parade’s staging area gave me time to shift into coordinator mode. The morning air was pleasant and the sun shone brightly.

Perfect parade weather.

I checked my phone updates from when Ethan had confiscated it.

First aid stations: set.

Sound checks: complete.

Everything was running smoothly because my team was incredible.

Checking floats and talking with participants ranked among my favorite parts of the day.

Beyond approving initial designs with the committee, I deliberately avoided seeing the floats until the lineup.

Seeing everything finished and in formation was magical every time.

The work businesses and individuals had put into these creations took my breath away.

While I was doing the walkthrough, a message arrived.

Ethan: Kids say hi. They’re wondering if it’d be okay to throw water balloons at me during the parade to keep the dunk tank theme going. I gave a firm no.

I chuckled. He’d been such a good sport with the dunk tank yesterday, staying longer than scheduled as people kept paying for chances.

He got dunked repeatedly as his friends, campers, and townspeople lined up.

Grace, Elena, and I had watched, entertained as he tried to distract throwers from hitting the target.

Andre: Tell them hi from me. And absolutely no water balloons. Can’t have the inside of the loaned car getting wet. If they want another shot at you, we can just put you back in the tank.

I capped the message with a winky face.

He sent back a surprised emoji.

I arrived at the starting line at 10:44, expecting to see Ethan. But he wasn’t with the rainbow-festooned convertible he’d ride in.

“Has anyone seen Ethan?” I asked nearby volunteers. They shook their heads, and the first flutter of anxiety hit my stomach.

10:46. I texted him.

Andre: Where are you? Everything okay?

No response. No typing indicator.

10:50. I called, but after several rings it went to voicemail. “Hey, it’s getting close to start time,” I said after the beep, keeping my voice steady. “Please call me when you get this.”

Had the festival suddenly become too much? He’d seemed fine at breakfast, excited even. Still, worry nagged that something was wrong.

10:52. I texted the volunteer thread.

Andre: Has anyone seen Ethan?

Responses flooded in, but no one knew where he was. I was the last person to get a text from him.

I sent another message to him.

Andre: Starting to worry. Please tell me you’re okay.

10:55. I took the walkie-talkie off my belt. Not everyone had one, but several volunteers along the parade route did.

“Is Ethan on the route anywhere?”

Sarah responded first. “Not that I’ve seen.”

“Not where I’m at,” Olivia chimed in.

“Saw him about five minutes ago,” Jenny said. “He was talking with someone at the Harmonic Circus float.”

Relief flooded through me, followed by anger. He was socializing? Now?

“Jenny, can you see if he’s still there and tell him he needs to be at the starting point immediately?” I struggled to keep my voice level.

“On it!”

I paced the starting area, checking my watch every few seconds. I felt the weight of everyone’s questioning looks.

10:58. Still no Ethan. I tried calling again but nothing.

The frustration building in my chest surprised me with its intensity. Earlier I’d appreciated Ethan helping me to be more relaxed and holding back on reading messages as soon as they arrived. Now my agitation was building as it was clear we wouldn’t start on time.

10:59. Jenny’s voice came through the walkie at a whisper. “Ethan waved me off when I tried to interrupt.”

“Why would he do that?”

“He’s on the float in a corner, talking with Kirk. I don’t know why.”

“Take your radio to him, please.” I didn’t need to get mad at her. This was on Ethan for not being here.

“Will do.” Hesitation rattled her voice.